Living The Real Life Beyond Goal Setting
July 31, 2008
In many of his wonderful talks the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar states "you’ve got to have goals." Have you ever asked yourself why?
You are instructed that you need different types of goals. There are fitness goals, financial goals, relationship goals and spiritual goals. Your list of goals can be endless. There are some successful people who are working on more than fifty goals in developing their personal and business life. There is pride expressed in the fact that the more goals they have the better person they are.
There are more and more people becoming goal junkies.
There will be those of you who will give me good reasons for setting and achieving goals. I ask you a deeper question. This question is "For what purpose?" You think if you do not set goals nothing will be achieved. There are many who when setting goals feel increasingly conflicted.
Rather than more goal setters this world needs people to simply be present to their lives. Rather than live in the future-focused achievement-directed mode just take time to relax. Learn to let go into the present. In this way you can develop real confidence and presence. In this way you learn to live your life on purpose. The results will drive your energy higher than any goal setting routine. You will feel in harmony with who you are rather than simply what you do.
Meaning and Marketing - The Hurricane
July 30, 2008
I step outside my back door and look at some large limbs lying on the ground. They are all dead. We’ve had the remnants of Hurricane Frances and Ivan come through here the past ten days. We’ve had lots of rain with manageable winds. Even so, the storms have done their work and alot more than I have the time to see or know about at the present moment.
The hurricane - one of nature’s ways of culling the trees. I remember visiting the Florida Everglades in the early 1980’s and hearing from a Park Ranger who was our tour guide on a boat. He pointed out the most common trees along the water bank, a tangled mass - millions of them. “Left to their own devices, they can be their own worst enemy,” he said; “so right now we’re praying for a hurricane.”
Meaning and Marketing - do you have or own a context of Meaning in which to do your work? Of course, you do. Why do you do your work and what are you after? Are you after “Success”? If so, what is “Success” and how do you define that?
Raise Concern About Sales Competition, Not About Yourself
July 29, 2008
As you are reading this sales article, read very carefully. Because I wouldn’t want you to think of a pig right now. No, do not think of a fat, brown, smelly pig right this moment. What are you doing? Do you have a picture of a smelly, fat, brown pig in your head right now? I thought I just told you not to do that. What are you doing then?
The mind can only process positive statements directly. In order to process a negative statement, one must first create a positive representation of the negative statement in the mind. To *not* think of a pig, you first had to see a fat, brown, smelly pig. Only then could you attempt to tell yourself not to think about it. Gee, by now though you’ve already thought of the pig, so what good is it to tell you not to?
All SEO Traffic is Not Created Equal
July 28, 2008
All SEO Traffic is Not Created Equal
by: Tim O’Keefe
Did you know that your website can rank number 1 for the phrase “Your City Real Estate”, and still be a miserable failure? Read on….
So the telemarketer calls you, and you being the internet expert, the conversation goes something like this:
“SEO” Telemarketer: Do you know that we can get your website onto the top twenty of the search engines?
You: Why not the Top Ten?
“SEO” Telemarketer: OK the top ten.
You: And?..
“SEO” Telemarketer: We will get you in the top ten.
You: Sooo?…
“SEO” Telemarketer: You will get a bunch of traffic.
You: And that means to meeeee??….
“SEO” Telemarketer: You will get leads.
You: Do you even own a website kid? I want sales!
Somehow the SEO industry has done a job of making Realtors start at the beginning instead of having the end in mind.
Of course you are concerned about your bottom line. But since that kid can’t control your ability to get leads and convert them to a sale. He has to draw you in on the assumption that traffic equates to leads and sales. That is a big assumption.
How to Start a Big Mail Service
July 28, 2008
A BIG MAIL SHOULD CONTAIN:At least three to four Mail order Magazines Circulars containingoffers or interest to new mail order dealers. Circulars which theBig Mail Dealer has been to mail.
Do you enjoy reading Mail Dealer magazines? Do you enjoy orderingand receiving “Big Mail?” Do you enjoy working with new MailOrder dealers and opportunity seekers? If your answer is “YES” toall of these questions, then it would probably be profitable andpleasurable for you to start a “Big Mail” service.
In the pages to follow I will show you how to set up a Big MailService. I’ll show you how to advertise your service and I’llalso show you how to use the Big Mails that you receive in yourmail to your own advantage. I’ll show you how to use commissioncirculars (how to get a lot of them free!) and I’ll also show youhow to keep track of them.
We’ll talk about co-publishing and we’ll discuss circular mailing(you’ll learn how to get people to pay you cash to mail theircirculars for them!).I’ll show a simple trick that will get you alot of free advertising and I’ll show you where to get a freemailing list that will create a lot of new customers for you, ifyou are willing to put in a little work to get them.
Fail to plan… or Plan to FAIL??
July 27, 2008
Running a business, whether it be an offline multi-billion dollar company or an online part time home business, they share many similar traits.
One of the biggest obstacles I have endeavored to translate to many, many small business / home business people, is a very simple phrase……’ Treat It Like a REAL business, Because It IS a REAL Business’.
The fundamental reasoning behind so many failures in small business, is the clear lack of willingness to act like a real business. Many people may ‘ have a go ‘, they could ‘ give it a try ‘, or ‘ let’s see what happens ‘ - all with the.. ‘ what have I got to lose? ‘ attitude. THAT, my friends, is one of the biggest secrets to FAILURE.
OK - so let’s assume that your small business / home business / BizOp etc., is NOT you main source of income. It is NOT responsible for putting food in you family’s stomachs, it is NOT what keeps a roof over your head….. it is NOT the sole form of income that you, your family and your Bank Manager rely upon.
How to Successfully Avoid Becoming One of The 80% of Small Businesses That Will FAIL
July 26, 2008
It’s a commonly quoted statistic: 80% of all small businesses will fail within the first five years of running. In fact, in Internet marketing, this figure can be as high as 95%. Yes, it’s a commonly quoted statistic but for some reason, people are not very good at saying exactly why this happens. And it happens to what seems like nearly all newborn businesses.
It may be simply due to the usual factors i.e. inadequate time and energy investment in advertising, poor dedication, lack of perseverance, no focus, ambitiously low goal setting and so on.
But the sadder news is that even with full and enthusiastic application of none of the above, many entrepreneurs may be headed slowly and steadily towards what can only be described as business suicide.
The number one reason why several businesses fail is lack of good quality, regular, astounding and highly relevant advice. It’s that simple.
Running a business successfully is all about making decisions on a daily basis. The decisions that we make depend on a number of things including:
1. Past experiences and
2. Factual knowledge.
A new business owner may have relatively little or no experience.
Preparing a Budget
July 25, 2008
Ok, you say, I know I need a budget, but how do I prepare one? The most common budget period is one year, but this can vary depending on whether or not your business has seasonal or cyclical fluctuations. For example if you run a Christmas decorations shop, or a costume shop your business is going to peak during certain times of the year.
The budgeting process usually begins with the collection of accounting data. In order to prepare a strong and achievable budget, you must analyze each item of income and expense from the prior year. If your accounting system is a mess and the figures are inaccurate, the numbers used in your budget will be useless. This is why it is so important to keep good records. Quicken and Quickbooks are excellent programs to help you with setting up an accounting system that is easy to use and understand.
If you can review your prior year’s figures with confidence, try to cultivate your strong areas and look for ways to increase performance or volume. For example, if one particular product sold well, take a closer look at that product. What you did to market it, etc. and try to model your other products in the same vein to accomplish the same results.
Forgive All Ebay Sins!
July 24, 2008
Over the years, I have been amazed at the “blinding” greed and reckless approach to commerce that some business owners have employed. Lying to customers, selling inferior merchandise, and not offering refunds, left a firestorm of irate customers in their wake. Without fail, all of this “ill will” led most businesses to bankruptcy, and in some cases, Federal Prison. I realize that not everyone engages in “business criminality” that rises to the level of fraud and incarceration. Most people try to be good stewards, and approach their enterprise in an honest and forthright manner. For those of you who own thriving business concerns you already know that in most cases the customer is always right. You make sure that you communicate effectively, refund monies if the buyer is truly unhappy, and try to meet the needs of the people who buy your goods or services. However, there are more than a handful of Ebay sellers that are of the mind that customer service and effective communication is not something that they need not participate in. Take the case of a woman named Barbara, (Nickname: BobAnn) who recently posted her disappointment on the Ryze Business Network: Barbara Cerda wrote:Greetings Everyone, “When will sellers on Ebay understand that customer service is key? And when will Ebay sellers learn using customer friendly approaches can only make their business grow?” Again today I’ve bought from a less than friendly seller. Thought I was placing a bid and instead bought the item at the buy now price. Of course the seller refused to allow the retraction, nor was I allowed to place a bid. I always pay for my winning bids immediately upon email confirmation.
And did so in this case. But it would have been customer friendlier for this seller to accept my retraction to be replaced with a bid. He would have gotten repeat business from me and my friends. His “Buy Now” price is 30% over the retail price for this item. Lesson learned by me again - that there are way too many sellers on Ebay out to grab a buck and the hell with fair practice.Lesson learned yet again.”
Fascinating Ways to Make a Living Doing What You Love May Be Closer Than You Think…
July 23, 2008
You don’t have to look very far to find fascinating ways to make a living. Opportunities are literally everywhere? if you’re looking, that is. It seems I can’t turn on the television or radio or open a magazine or newspaper without seeing at least one good business idea. Maybe that’s why, as we were winding down a consulting session the other day, one of my clients said to me, "Boy, you sure have a lot of information in your head." I appreciated the compliment, but Julie was only half right. When you’ve been in the business of helping people change course for as long as I have, it’s only natural I’d know a lot about creative income streams. But most of them aren’t in my head ? they’re in my Opportunity File.What’s an Opportunity File? Basically anytime I happen upon an interesting story about someone who is making money doing what they love, I add it to a big file called Opportunities. If you don’t yet have an Opportunity File, I encourage you to set one up. It’s positively addicting!I thought it might be fun to just pull a couple of examples from the top of my Opportunity file and share them with you. Since they’re on top, that means I’ve come across them in just the last week or so. Collecting is all the rage these days. As I looked more closely at my top of the pile examples, I realized that in one way or another, they all have something to do with collecting. Read on and you’ll see what I mean.First there’s antique Christmas decorations collector, Gerald Nixon (aka Mr. Pink? I’ll explain in a moment). Gerald had so many antique Christmas decorations in his personal collection that he finally had to open a shop just so he could move about his apartment. Today he has over 10,000 ornaments as well as light reflectors, aluminum trees, rotating color wheels, rotating musical tree stands, vintage holiday cards, and wrapping paper. Okay, why is he called Mr. Pink? Well, it seems the guy owns a very fuzzy pink Santa suit that he happily dons every weekend in December. You can imagine how many tourists ask to have their picture taken with him! You can visit Gerald at his shop in Manhattan at 223 16th Street or online at MrPinkInc.com. If you hurry, you may even catch him in his furry pink suit!And speaking of winter? after his grandfather died and left him his old wooden skis, Mark Miller began collecting vintage skis. Soon neighbors in his small hometown in New Hampshire started dropping off their old skis. Then Mark began buying skis at auctions. Before long, he had over 100 pairs!In 1994, he decided to turn his hobby into a business and moved himself and his collection to Park City, Utah, where he became a ski instructor. Today Mark has the largest collection of antique winter sports equipment in the world. Two warehouses hold his collection of 3,000 pairs of skis, 2,000 pairs of snowshoes, 500 vintage sleds, and 400 pairs of wooden skates.Increasingly, Mark’s collection comes from Europe where he managed to track down 500 pairs of American snow shoes used by the Army’s 10th Mountain Division in World War II. The shoes were just sitting in an old barn in Turkey. Mark does all the refinishing work himself before selling his vintage finds through his web site at AntiqueSkis.com and through home décor shops in four western states. The next opportunity I found in an article in FSB magazine about hot franchises. I’m not usually very interested in franchises. I’ve got nothing against them mind you? it’s just hard for me to picture someone who wakes up in the morning excited about opening their own Subway or Jiffy Lube shop. On the other hand, franchises can be the ideal solution for someone who basically wants to run his or her own business but doesn’t want to build something from scratch.Anyway, it was my keen interest in recycling that peaked my curiosity about Canadian Brian Scudamore’s franchise entirely geared around turning trash into cash. Brian got into the business of clearing out unwanted things from people’s basements, garages, attics and the like when he was 19 and still in college. He bought an old truck for $700, and in an attempt to make his business sound bigger than it was, he named it Rubbish Boys. (Even though Brian was the only rubbish boy he thought big). His business was so successful, he ended up dropping out of school to haul junk full time.The junk hauling business itself is nothing new. But over time Brian got the bright idea of modernizing the business with uniformed drivers driving fancy trucks who show up when they say they will. So he decide to start a company called Got-Junk (think UPS but with junk pick up). Today this 33-year-old’s Vancouver-based company is one of the fastest growing franchises in North America with 74 territories ? most in the U.S. Is there really that much money in junk? This year Got-Junk expects to post revenues system-wide of $12.6 million. To learn more, go to 1800GotJunk.com. A lot of people skip over articles or entire publications if they don’t see an immediate application to their life. Not me. The more unrelated to my life, the more intrigued I am. Case in point was a supplement in my local paper that was dedicated to equestrians. I like horses and all, but am not even remotely connected to the horse world.While I scanned the articles, what I was really drawn to were the advertisements. Why? Ads reveal all kinds of interesting ways people with a particular interest have found a way to earn a living. Among the ads for such obvious businesses as tack shops and veterinarians was an ad for "quality equine laundry." Who knew?I quickly discovered that the company will "clean, refurbish, and return each blanket spotless, repaired, and wrapped with tissue in a zippered plastic case." They also promise to make Velcro stick again and to air-dry the blankets on a special rack to avoid shrinkage. This enterprising company will arrange for pick up anywhere in New England. This last one is not so much about collecting things as it is about collecting and using experience. A headline in my local paper featured a guy who recently bought a local trophy and engraving shop. I don’t have a big need for trophies, but I know when it comes to entrepreneurs, there’s always more to a story than the headline. I was right. It seems the new shop keeper, 51-year-old Russell Wilkinson, has had a pretty varied background. According to the article, Russell has worked in construction, been an electrician, owned his own shoe repair shop, been a security chief at a local park, delivered packages for UPS, owned a local restaurant, and trained to be a scuba diving instructor in Key West. People often ask Russell why he doesn’t just get a regular job. His reply? "If I’d done that, it would have been the biggest waste of the most expensive education a person can have." Russell’s story serves as a good reminder that despite all the pressure to find that one thing you’re good at and then stick to it for the rest of your life, having a varied occupational life can make life a whole lot more interesting.It also reminds us that no experience is wasted. So many people went to school for things that have nothing to do with the work they do today? myself included. I never view past training, jobs, or even relationships as wasted time. All of our past experience adds up to who we are today.Do you want to work at something you truly love? Opportunities are all around you. Get a note pad and a file folder and start your own Opportunities File. Let it be a source of inspiration and ideas.
